Joe Buck Called Nelson Cruz’s Walk Off Grand Slam As Only Joe Buck Could

American League Championship Series. Extra innings. Walk off home run. Grand slam.

These are the ingredients of one of the most exciting baseball plays of the year. In fact, it’s the first “official” walk off grand slam in MLB postseason history (baseball afficionados may remember Robin Ventura’s walk off grand slam for the Mets in Game 5 of the 1999 NLCS, but that was only credited as a 1 run single). One would think this would be cause for one of the more boisterous, enthusiastic calls of the sports year.

Enter Joe Buck…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VJbkNfF70YQ?hd=1

I’ve heard store closings delivered with more passion. And I get the appeal of announcers wanting to step aside and let the noise of the crowd and the moment speak for itself, but that usually comes after a more vibrant call than “in the air to left… down the line… this ball… ends it.” Instantly, our followers on Twitter began to take notice…

It does sound like Buck’s voice is getting moderately better, which is good… but maybe someone needs to check his pulse too. The funny thing is, I thought Joe sounded more excitable than usual during the NFL Playoffs and the Super Bowl last year. In fact, I thought he was (relatively) amped up for the big game in February and did well. That clearly hasn’t made the transition to the MLB postseason. Maybe Joe watches this video before every baseball broadcast for inspiration…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1-J-y2huMNs

With the rave reviews Terry Francona received, it’ll be very interesting to see whether or not Fox can (or wants to) persuade him to stay in the booth and make it a three man team with Tim McCarver and Buck for the rest of the postseason. It’ll be nice to see McCarver in good health back in the booth, but Francona gives Fox’s baseball coverage the spark of life and freshness it needs.

About Matt Yoder

Award winning sportswriter at The Comeback and Awful Announcing. The biggest cat in the whole wide world.